Pentagon's First Energy Plan

Air Force, Army, Business News/Analysis, Defense, Federal Agency/Executive Branch, Marines, Navy, Policy

June 17, 2011

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by Keith Johnson (The Wall Street Journal) …The goals of the new strategy are to cut energy demand by forces in the field and to accelerate the development of alternative-energy supplies, such as renewable sources and biofuels. The military hopes the new plan will pay dividends both on the battlefield, by creating more lethal and more agile troops, and in budget-conscious Washington, by saving money over the long term with more-efficient gear.
The Defense Department is the biggest single energy consumer in the U.S., spending $15 billion on fuel last year. The Air Force alone uses more oil than some small countries. Some 80% of convoys in Afghanistan are devoted to carrying fuel. Because of the threat from roadside bombs and ambushes, Marines estimate one service member is killed or wounded for every 24 convoys.
… The next priority is to diversify energy supplies, with a special focus on reducing the military’s dependence on oil by increasing investments in biofuels and renewable energy. “The realities of global oil markets mean a disruption of oil supplies is plausible and increasingly likely in the coming decades,” the energy strategy concludes.
The Navy, for example, has experimented with biofuel-powered F-18 fighter jets and is developing the “Great Green Fleet,” an aircraft-carrier strike group that will be powered exclusively by alternative fuels and aims to ship out by 2016. READ MORE

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